The Limit of Blood: Chapter 4
by jyuubi
Summary: Hotaru and her friends are now fifteen, and she finds out that her family posesses an, as of now, unamed kekkei genkai, or blood limit, and that Tastuya posses a suprising one of her own...


Chapter 4

The Limit of Blood

Although _I _always saw him, my teammates didn't. I never actually asked them, but they probably would have told me if they saw a random ninja following me everywhere.

I didn't know if it was just me being arrogant, but every mission I went on was way too easy for me. Even B-ranks barely had me challenged whatsoever. Sokoto often complained, but the rest of us just sighed and did whatever stupid tasks were assigned to us.

Even after fifty years since the assassination of the Third, Konoha still lagged behind on the total number of ninja, so there were many times when I was split up from my teams only to be grouped with other Leaf ninja. And, strangely enough, Konoha ninja were sometimes even sent to Suna-gakure as help.

I began to lose hope in my plan, and myself. I saw Gosu everywhere, and yet, I never met him, face to face. I chose to ignore him, and he never did anything. I began to fear that I really _was _just hallucinating.

For my fifteenth birthday, Zaku and Sokoto and I decided to go to Firefly Fields and have a picnic/training session.

After we had trained for nearly three hours non-stop, we decided we should unpack the basket that Sokoto had worked _so _hard to prepare.

"Um…" I asked, smiling. "Sokoto?"

"Mm-hm?"

"What _did _you put in the basket?" I asked. I was afraid it was going to be something totally disgusting, like fruit.

"Fruit," said Sokoto. He grinned. When my eyes narrowed, he said, "I mean, kidding. I don't remember."

Zaku shook his head, laughing slightly. "Honestly, Hotaru, did you really expect him to?"

"No." I laughed. This was so much better than being on missions or avoiding Kachi and Tatsuya. This is what I truly loved.

Sokoto took out the contents, to reveal a thermos full of miso, carrot sticks, and tea.

"See?" said Sokoto, sticking out his tongue. "No fruit."

"Yeah, and nothing much else either," I replied. Even though there wasn't much, Sokoto had put my favorites into a basket. If only there was some way to put Ichiraku ramen in there, too…

"Well, we've been training all day, so, I mean, a light meal isn't so bad," said Sokoto, chewing on carrot sticks. I could have sworn he was doing it as loudly as possible.

Zaku poured himself a bowl of soup and sipped it silently. I, myself, poured a cup of tea and did the same.

"This is great." Sokoto continued to noisily enjoy his carrots… noisily. "Hey, did you know that I have to go on a mission tomorrow?"

Although Zaku didn't need to answer because he knew _everything _that Sokoto did, I shook my head. "Alone?"

"Duh, no," said Sokoto, his grin filled with carrot bits. "I'm going with Kachi and Tatsuya."

I grimaced. I still despised both of them.

"Hotaru," said Zaku, his voice so much quieter than Sokoto's. "why don't you even see Kachi anymore?"

I stared at the basket, my eyes unfocused. "Because we don't _need _to see each other."

Sokoto gulped down his carrot sticks. "But, when we were in the academy, weren't you guys, like, best friends, or something?"

"Yes," I said softly. "But not anymore."

Even though I still didn't look up, I knew Zaku and Sokoto were exchanging looks.

"Why?" said Sokoto. "I mean, what did Kachi do?"

"She…" I couldn't explain it. I couldn't say, _I hate Kachi because she became friends with someone else_, even though that was the reason. "We… we just grew apart."

Zaku's voice grew louder. "No, you didn't. You ripped yourself away, didn't you, Hota?"

Anger flared inside me, and I jumped to my feet. "I didn't _rip _myself away from anything! She has _Tatsuya _now!"

Zaku continued looking at me in a blank, indifferent way, while Sokoto looked at me, eyes wide in surprise. I felt white anger pulse through my body, and I felt my eyes loosening. Suddenly, I felt like my entire body had cracked in half, and pain spread to my fingertips. I held up my hands, expecting them to be covered in blood, but there was nothing. I looked wildly around, then shut my eyes as tight as possible. I clutched my head, hoping the pain would go away. A single thought raced through my head, over and over:

_Run._

So I ran.

"Hotaru—" began Sokoto, rising.

"Don't- don't follow- me!" The words tasted like blood, bitter and metallic.

The wind rushing against my face was little relief. I expected the pain to die down, just like all the other times I felt this… _hatred_.

I didn't even know who I was feeling hatred _to_, although I was pretty sure it was Tatsuya… and Kachi.

I found myself thinking about that first day at the academy. I wondered why I had sat next to her that day. I remembered thinking, _Hyuuga Kachi is sitting there… the seat's open…_ And so I sat there.

By the time I got to my house, the pain had completely disappeared, but I was still angry. I felt fidgety, and I hated that feeling.

I unlocked the door and went inside, whispering, "I'm home." I did it everyday, hoping that, maybe, just maybe, I'd get an answer. But no-one ever did, and today was not any different.

For some reason, I felt drawn to Dei's room. The door was always slightly open, even after I closed it. I never walked in, but today I felt like I should. The patch on the floor was dark and dry, and I made my way around it.

It hit me that I had barely ever gone in Dei's room, even when he was alive. I examined the bare walls, the bed in the corner. I then noticed a small door on the opposite end of the room… his closet?

The door was hard to slide open since nobody had in over five years. What I found surprised me; not a scrap of clothing was in the closet, just a couple of smallish boxes, which I was pretty sure didn't contain clothes.

I was suddenly very curious to what the boxes contained.

I pulled out all the boxes and sat cross-legged on the floor. Taking the nearest box in my hand, I removed the dust-covered lid.

The contents weren't that interesting, just a bunch of small shurikan that were covered in rust. They must have been Dei's spare.

The next box contained photographs of my parents. I felt a little angry that Dei had never shown me them. I had only had one picture of my parents growing up. I rummaged through and picked out my favorite- a picture of them holding Dei together when he was very small. Of course, I hadn't been born then. My parents had died protecting the Leaf from the Jyuubi very soon after I was born.

The next box was totally empty except for a strange-looking kunai that must have been a present from someone for him becoming a jounin and a worn photograph of three people, probably from the same team. I looked closer and noticed that

The next box was long and thin. I was surprised by the contents. A long, flute with a rope-like thing twining all the way up sat, dusty and unused. I licked my finger and rubbed in down the flute, and stared, amazed, at what I found. Red, metal flames snaked up the flute, which was actually gold. It was so beautiful, I immediately wished I could play it.

I was completely useless when it came to music. I could keep a beat better than anybody, but when it came to actually playing the instrument, it was like I was completely tone-deaf.

I gently laid the flute in my lap and pulled the last box over to me. It was actually pretty big. I had a bit of trouble opening it, but when I did, I was just as surprised as the flute.

The last box contained a scroll, a summoning scroll. I stared at it wonderingly. Dei had been able to summon…? What animal?

I had no idea who I could've asked to find out about the scroll or the flute. I had no idea who used to be on Dei's team, and I was almost _sure _Dei had never used the flute.

An impulse took over me and I put the flute to my mouth. I blew softly, and a clear, resounding note filled the room. I was amazed at myself. That note had actually sound _good_. I played three notes, just as perfectly as before.

I blew into the flute, and it was like my hands knew what to do. I had no idea how long I sat there, my eyes closed. The sound was so beautiful, and it was mesmerizing. The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that it was _me _doing it.

I stopped when I realized how _hot _I was. Sweat beads were all over my face, and I lowered it. _That's strange_, I thought. _It shouldn't be this hot_.

I noticed that the flute was emanating heat, and I quickly put it down before I burned myself. I stared. The flute was making heat.

I felt the urge to play on it more, so I picked it up. It already felt like cold metal again. I walked outside into the woods behind the house, stood in the center of a clearing, and played again. This time, I played while concentrating on the temperature. It became hot very fast.

I closed my eyes while continuing to play. When the heat was almost unbearable, I immediately stopped, gasping for breath. The humidity made it seem like the air was on fire.

I opened my eyes and gasped. I could see reddish gas all over the place. I quickly held my breath, thinking it to be toxic. I didn't move at all, and when I could not longer hold my breath, I let it go and breathed.

But nothing happened to me, and soon the red clouds were gone.

I suddenly had an idea of what it was. I put the flute to my lips again. This time I kept my eyes open. The red came from the end of the flute and started to billow out all over the clearing. The minute it came near me, it became hotter and hotter.

I stopped playing and dropped my arms. Laughter erupted from my mouth, and I couldn't stop. I now had a technique to call my own. _In your faces, Kachi and Tatsuya_! Kachi wouldn't be able to see through this, and Tatsuya couldn't learn it. But suddenly I stopped. I realized that this couldn't be considered a technique until I managed to make it so I wasn't hurt along with my enemy when I used it.

For the next couple of days I practiced and practiced, and I didn't eat or sleep. My mind was set on mastering the flute, and I didn't care how long it took me. I wasn't strong enough to defeat Gosu yet. I needed more power.

At dawn on the third day, I stood up. I had been sitting down because my legs were aching. Somehow, my chakra wasn't depleted. Actually, the fire flute technique took only a small percentage of my chakra.

I shakily put the flute to my lips and played. I concentrated my chakra into a form. A piece of wood was set before me. I suddenly released all the chakra that I had and it burst into flames. I intentionally spread the fire to the entire clearing just to watch it burn.

I raised my hand and the flames died down. My chakra was expended, but I suddenly knew that I really _had _mastered the flute. But I was so completely sapped of my energy that I welcomed sleep.

Consciousness rushed back to me. I was lying on something soft. _Oh, crap_, I thought. _Not the hospital_.

"Ohayo!" said someone, and Sokoto's face was suddenly bent over me. I screamed slightly. "Oh, come on, Hotaru-chan, you remember me, right?"

"S-Sokoto!" I regained my breath. "Where am I?"

"You're in your room, Hota." Zaku was sitting next to Sokoto.

"You shouldn't disappear like that!"

"Haruko-sensei?" I sat up, staring. "Why are all of you here?"

"Well, I mean, we found you in a clearing out in the back. And why was everything black?"

"Black…?"

"He means burnt," answered Zaku, in a low voice.

Everyone was serious and looking at me intently. I hated attention. "Um… I learned a new technique, and…."

"Really?" cut in Sokoto. "I wanna see."

"_You_ learned a new technique?" said Haruko-sensei playfully. He stopped grinning when he saw my expression. "I'm just joking, Hota!"

"No, I mean, seriously, show us this 'new technique!' It's not gonna be some wimpy girly thing is it?"

"Sokoto, do you _really_ think I'd _ever _do a 'girly technique,' as you so brilliantly put it?"

He grinned in answer.

"Actually," said Haruko-sensei. "I'm very interested in finding out about this new technique of yours, Hotaru. But first, eat something."

He handed me an apple. I looked at him blankly, signaling with my eyes, _How do I eat this thing_?

Haruko-sensei laughed and held out his other hand. Carrot sticks.

I suddenly wondered if the flute was still back in the clearing, realizing they probably would have picked it up. I ran out to where the clearing was. I stopped, surprised. Everything really _had _been burned to a crisp, and the flute lay in the very center.

"Good, you didn't pick it up."

"What are you talking about?" said Sokoto, walking up beside me. "I mean—"

I picked up the flute, and all three of them gasped slightly. "Is that your technique?"

"What? I haven't done anything yet."

The twins looked at each other while our sensei continued to stare.

"What?"

"Well…" said Sokoto. "I mean, a moment ago that red and gold thing wasn't there. I mean, we saw it the moment you touched it."

"_Really_? That's… strange."

Suddenly, Haruko-sensei appeared right beside me and looked me straight in the eye. "Where did you get that flute?" he demanded.

"I-I found it in my brother's room," I answered, taking a step back. "Why does it matter?"

Haruko-sensei paused. After a moment, he shook his head and resumed his position beside the twins.

I lifted the flute to my lips and blew. Once again, my fingers knew the right tune to play, and I snaked out a flame, making a sort of ring of fire around the clearing. I played a different set of notes and the ring separated into four rings. I made them spin, then fly up, then disappear.

Sokoto stared open mouthed, then whistled softly when it was over. Zaku stared at me the entire time. Haruko-sensei, strangely, continued to stare intently at the flute itself.

"Hotaru… how did you learn to play that flute?"

"I practiced…?"

"It took Dei a few years to master it."

I stared. "Did you know my brother?"

He closed his eyes, smiling grimly. "Yeah, we were teammates."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. "Why… did you never tell me?"

"You never asked."

A billion questions raced through my head. I hadn't known, and still didn't know, much about my older brother. But Haruko-sensei had been his freaking _teammate_! Surely, he'd know all about Dei. Sokoto and Zaku continued to watch the conversation from afar.

"So…" I continued, short-breathed. "Dei used this flute? 'Cause I never saw him use it _once_."

"He didn't use it often. It was very difficult for him."

"Why?"

"The Tsukishi kekkei genkai runs much, _much_ thicker in your veins."

I froze. _I _had a kekkei genkai, a blood limit? _Me_? The little red-head with an anger problem? I thought only the gigantormous clans like the Hyuuga had those.

"M-me?"

Haruko-sensei placed his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. It's a wind and fire element jutsu. The only other person with a blood limit that you'd know that I can think of is your friend, Hyuuga Kachi."

Anger flared once again. "She is _not _my friend."

He looked at me skeptically but amused. I felt Hatred well and bit my lip to stop from retaliating.

"I'm going for a walk," I hissed. "I want to be left alone."

"Again, Hotaru?" said Sokoto, in a tired way, approaching me. "Why do you hate us?"

I was so hurt by this. Did he really think that? The Hatred became replaced with sorrow and the knot arose in my throat. Was I really that awful that everybody thought that I _hated _them?

For some reason, I didn't feel any tears coming. Maybe they were going to stop trying flow.

"Do… you really think I hate you?" I asked calmly, which surprised even me.

Nobody said anything, which was enough answer for me.

"Sorry that I was such a burden to you," I whispered. I disappeared.

I stopped going in a back alley of some store. I had to vent out my frustration some how. I decided to head for the training grounds.

While I was walking, I was so calm I was scaring myself. Why didn't this make me angry? I didn't hate them, and I didn't want to. Is this why Kachi replaced me? Because I hated her…?

I was snapped out of my reverie by a sharp voice.

"I _dare _you to repeat that, Katsumi!"

"Oh, and what are you going to do, dirty-blood?"

Kachi was so red in the face it was scary. It seemed like she and Katsumi were having a row. Tatsuya stood back as she watched them scream at each other, flinching with every word.

"Do you even _want _to know what I'm going to do, Katsumi pig?"

"Don't _call _me that, Hyuuga!"

"Then stop calling me 'dirty-blood,' pig!"

This continued for several seconds.

Kachi and Katsumi were both inching closer and closer to each other as they tried to make their voices heard.

I realized just how much Kachi had changed over these couple of years. I remembered the shy, little girl who I had chosen to sat next to. Looking now at the fifteen-year old chuunin who was the pride of her big brother, Hige, I realized how much she had matured, while I had stayed arrogant and hateful. But… I guess you can't really change your true nature. Wow, that sounded so much like Hyuuga…

"Please, stop, Katsumi," said Tatsuya softly, stepping in between them. "No more."

"Move- out- of- the- _way_!" cried Katsumi, pushing Tatsuya out of the line of fire. "This ends _now_."

"You're right. It _does_!" yelled Kachi. She flared her Byakugan, a silver pulse rushing around. "Why do you hate me?"

I flinched at this.

"You want to know why?" breathed Katsumi, her voice light and bubbly. "It's because people with dirty blood are low. People with dirty blood are lower than the Akatsuki. People with dirty blood are lower than—"

Tatsuya stepped forwards, shouting, "_Stop_, Katsumi-chan!"

"-Uchiha Sasuke."

Kachi stepped forwards, holding her fists back, ready to do her gentle-fists strike. But she wasn't fast enough.

Rioko Tatsuya stepped forwards, raising her fist and swinging it downwards into a punch. The surprise on Katsumi's face made me not hate Tatsuya nearly as much.

"Are-?" cursed Katsumi before her face hit the ground.

Tatsuya stood gasping over Katsumi's unconscious body. I couldn't see her face. Kachi was staring at her teammate.

I stepped forwards.

"That was interesting."

Kachi looked up in surprise. "H-Hotaru-chan!"

I looked at her, implying not to call me "chan."

"Why did you punch her, Rioko?" I asked in a low voice, standing beside her. She still didn't look up, although she had regained her breath.

"Tatsuya-chan…" said Kachi slowly, walking up on Tatsuya's other side. "How do you have—"

Tatsuya slowly looked up at me, revealing her face.

It wasn't her expression that made me gasp. It was her eyes.

They were sharingan.

We were sitting in my room, all three of us, for the first time. It was so strange to be with them, after hating them for so long. But I wanted to hear her story.

"How do _you_ have the mirror wheel eye?" I asked softly. "And don't tell me that you're somehow related to the Uchihas."

"I'm not, as far as I know."

"Kachi, did you know about Tatsuya?"

Kachi shook her head. "Even with my byakugan, I wasn't able to detect it. But… Tatsuya-chan… how do you…?"

"I've never told a single person about this," said Tatsuya. "I never knew my parents. The only thing I remembered was my name. Um… how should I begin… um, you've heard of Orochimaru, right?"

We both nodded. Well, of _course _we did. Everybody knew of him.

"Well, despite what anyone says, he's still there, in the Hidden Sound Village. Everyone tells me that he was killed, but it isn't true."

I was stunned, but then I said, "Why should we believe you, and not the high-ranking ninja who say otherwise?"

"Because my sharingan eyes are proof of it!" whispered Tatsuya. "I guess… I'm really going to have to tell you."

"Yes, you probably should," said Kachi, nodding.

"When I was five, Orochimaru abducted one hundred children from various countries and villages. I was an orphan, so nobody noticed me being taken. You know how he did experiments on children by injecting cells from stronger ninja with blood limits in order to gain their power…. This time, he used… he used Uchiha Sasuke's cells. Well, out of one hundred children, only two survived: myself, and some other kid from Stone Country.

"The Stone kid died shortly after, but I somehow stayed alive. I was in so much pain, but since I hadn't died, I was apparently worth something.

"But still, I wasn't what they had hoped for. I wasn't able to activate my sharingan, no matter how much they tortured me, I couldn't do it. I really tried!

"Then, they just stuck me back into Konoha without any memories. Slowly, I've been regaining them, but their faces are still blurred.

"When I was little I had long hair. And when I got back, I was so little still. I didn't want Orochimaru to find me, so I cut it all off. It was very short, like a boy's haircut.

"But everyone made fun of me for it. I cried all the time, but I always told myself that it was better than being found. I didn't know exactly what had happened then, 'cause I didn't have my memories, but… I just had this horrible feeling that _someone _was going to come looking for me.

"One day, when I was seven, I think, some boys were picking on me because of my hair. I was ignoring them while picking flowers, but I was close to tears. I _always _cried."

_That's not like me at all. I hate to show weakness_, I thought sullenly. Still, this story was terrible.

"But then, Katsumi, who I had only seen from far away, came up to us and said, 'Hey! Stop picking on her.' They looked at her, then laughed. She started to help me pick flowers, but their cruelty started to get to even her. So, she picked up a flower and threw it into one of the boys' mouth, shuriken style. He choked, and they ran away crying.

"I was so grateful, but she said, 'Why _is_ your hair so short, Tatsi?' I remember thinking what a strange nickname that was.

"I said, 'So he can't find me.' Katsumi looked at me, then said, 'Who?' I shook my head. She didn't press on, instead saying, 'Well, if he comes lookin' for you, I'll kill 'im myself!' She laughed playfully, and from there on out I worshipped her. She stood up for me, and we were always together."

"Why did you get so angry at her?" asked Kachi. "I mean, you know, she's not going to like you anymore."

"Yeah, you did slug her." I was going to laugh, but I felt bad because she looked so sad.

"It's because… Uchiha Sasuke may be one of the worst traitors Konoha has ever seen, but his cells are in my blood, and I won't let her insult me. I'm _sick _of being made fun of. I'm so damn _sick_!"

She burst out crying.

Kachi put her hand on Tatsuya's shoulder. Suddenly, Kachi froze, and her byakugan flared. Except there weren't the normal pale lilac color. They were silver, and a stream of something seemed to be flowing through it.

"K-Kachi?" said Tatsuya, turning her head to look at Kachi. Kachi's face was completely blank, and her eyes were dull. She shrieked slightly, and said, louder, "Kachi!"

Instead of freaking out, I jumped up and tried to pull Kachi away from Tatsuya, but she wouldn't budge. So I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed her long black hair and _pulled_.

Kachi snapped back into reality and cried out in pain. "Let go! Ow!" She rubbed her head, wincing. "Why'd you do that, Hotaru-kun?"

"I thought you had died," I replied, shrugging.

She looked at me questioningly, then an expression of realization came over her face. Fear clouded her eyes and she screamed.

And she didn't stop.

"Kachi!" Tatsuya hopped up with surprising speed and landed beside the screaming Kachi, who's eyes looked the same as when she had touched Tatsuya.

"Hotaru!" cried Tatsuya. "I don't understand! She's so… _afraid_!"

I walked over and put my hands on Kachi's shoulders. I shook her roughly.

"Wake _up_!" I whispered. And, she did.

"What… happened," said Kachi groggily. "I don't—"

She paused, and then started breathing heavily.

"Oh," she said. "Tatsuya-chan… I… think I understand your pain now…"

Tatsuya looked concernedly at me. "What is she talking about?"

I looked, eyes wide, at Tatsuya, then Kachi. What _was _she talking about? I asked, "Kachi, your byakugan turned silver and you looked dead, and then you started screaming."

Kachi released a shaky laugh. "Yes… I just saw everything."

Tatsuya and I exchanged glances. "What?"

"Tatsuya-chan, I just saw _everything_. I mean your memories of that… that place."

Tatsuya eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened. "What? How in the world did you see my memories?"

She shook her head. "I don't know."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, it probably has something to do with your byakugan. How about we go see Hige? Is he in Konoha?"

Kachi nodded. "Yes, I'm pretty sure."

"Iikuzo!" I helped Kachi to her feet, and we sprinted.

I still remembered where Kachi lived, even after all these years of not going. I now realized that it was strange that she and her brother didn't live in her clan's district. I had never heard of people of a clan not _living _with her clan

Hige actually was in the kitchen, making tea. He looked up, and I could tell he was surprised to see me. Then, he looked coldly at me. "Hotaru. Welcome back."

Most people would have acted modest, but not me. "Yeah, hi, whatever."

"Hige-nee-san, something really weird just happened."

He went back to stirring the tea. "Mm-hmm?"

"I saw Tatsuya's memories when I touched her, and they said it was my byakugan… but… that hasn't happened in a while… and… I'm really starting to wonder about it."

Hige stopped stirring and looked up. His face had mild amusement on it. "Kachi, did you know that the stronger the kekkei genkai blood runs in someone, the higher level of that kekkei genkai they can reach?"

Kachi shook her head.

"Well, I've never actually seen it, but I'm pretty sure the head of the clan maybe seventy years ago finally reached the Second Level Byakugan by the time he was eighty years old."

"Hige-san, what does that have to with this?" asked Tatsuya.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Kachi can access her Second Level Byakugan."


End file.
